Sports day

Sports days, sometimes referred to as Field Day, are events staged by many schools and offices in which people take part in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of winning trophies or prizes. Though they are usually held in the days are also staged in the autumn or spring seasons especially in countries where the summer is very harshSchools stage many sports days in which children participate in the sporting events. They are usually held in the warmer seasons, either at the beginning or towards the end of the academic year. Also, it is usually held in elementary schools, or grades K-5.

In schools which use a house system a feature of the school is the competition between the houses, this is especially brought out during sporting events such as an inter-house sports day.

Games that are played on school sports days can be wide and varied. There are straight forward sprints and longer races for all age groups as well as egg and spoon races. Three legged races are run as well as sack races and parent and child races. [1]

Additional games are traditionally run in Ireland and the UK, such as wheel barrow races and games such as horse shoe throwing.

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Controversies

There have been a number of controversies surrounding school sports days in recent years, many of which have been publicised by the media.

Some schools have abolished or heavily altered sports days on the grounds that they are too competitive and may damage pupils' self esteem - this often reflects the schools' attitude towards competitive sports or competitiveness in general. This view has been condemned as "political correctness" by many commentators, notably by journalist Melanie Phillips in her 1996 book All Must Have Prizes.[2]

In June 2005, Country Life magazine published a report claiming that school sports days have become excessively competitive due to overbearing and "over-zealous" parents, who place too much pressure on their children to succeed. The report also revealed that many schools have banned "mothers and fathers" races due to fighting and cheating.

Since the mid 1990s, a number of schools and education authorities have banned photography and filming with video cameras at sports days and other school events. Some authorities cite general privacy issues as justification for the ban; others have raised concerns about pedophiles, which in turn has sparked accusations of hysteria and moral panic. Many parents have expressed anger at being unable to take photographs or videos as souvenirs of these events, and the ban has been criticised by some as a paranoid over-reaction to public concerns about paedophilia and child safety issues.

Japan

Sports day is the event Japanese schools called undōkai (運動会) in Japanese, including preparation for the event. undōkai is usually held on a Saturday or Sunday. During weeks preceding the sports day, students practice their events which they would like to show their parents and friends, within their class of physical education, which often includes performances by the school band and presentations by various school clubs as well as individual and group competitive events. These practices, and the sports days themselves, normally take place on the schools' fields, which provide little relief from the heat and sun.

Some schools have responded by scheduling their sports days during cooler months and by encouraging their students to drink water regularly. Currently, the event occurs most often in the autumn (September/October), or in the spring (May/June). In primary schools in Hokkaidō, the event is usually held between the later part of May and the earlier part of June.[3]

In offices

Many large organizations have sports days for their employees, one notable example is the UK Civil Service which holds a number of departmental sports days.

References

  1. ^ Gordon, Chris. "Mr". Trophies Awards and Gifts Store. Trophies Awards and Gifts Store. http://www.trophiesawardsandgifts.com/blog/organising-a-school-sports-day/. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 
  2. ^ Melanie Phillips. "All Must Have Prizes". 
  3. ^ Fukue, Natsuko, "No escaping annual sports days", Japan Times, 19 October 2010, p. 3.